I WENT TO THE GHIBLI MUSEUM!!!!!!!!!!!! It was so amazing! Unfortunately, I was not allowed to take pictures inside but I do have pictures of the exterior. Inside though it was amazing. The first room I walked into was one that showed how film worked. First showing the film just running with a light behind it, then blocked off so only a frame of the film showed, then lastly how it was reflected onto a screen, and viewed how we normally think of it. There was also this Carousel of Totoro figurines that when looked at in normal light were just still figurines at different stages of, for example, jump-roping. A strobe light was added to this and the figurines came to life. It really looked like they were moving, but it was just spinning as a whole, and each figurine itself was not moving.
My favorite room however was a remake of what a work place for Miyazaki would look like. It had junk everywhere. This junk was his inspiration, and you could see how they were referenced in his films. Also their were sketches. I am not sure they were originals, but there were sketches and paintings everywhere. It was so inspiring. I am not much of a drawer myself, but the artists that worked at Ghibli and Miyaki of course were seriously amazing. They were not just talented but worked to extreme degrees to make something move like the real thing. One room showed a desk with a projector next to it replaying around 5 seconds of a horse running over and over. The desk had a light table built inside of it, meaning hours would be spent capturing these 5 seconds onto seamless stills of paper. I think this is mind blowing, trying to capture and think of motion in stills.
The museum in whole was like a playground too. There was a bridge inside on the second floor, and a spiral tower staircase from the first floor to the second. There was of course the plush cat bus where little kids could play. (I was too big) There was a tower one could take outside to a garden area where the robot from Laputa was. I enjoyed myself at 21, I can only imagine how much fun the children around me were having climbing into all the crooks and crannies of the museum.
At the museum you are also given a ticket where you can see a film that is only shown there. It is a short 20-minute-long film, and although I won’t discuss the story line, it was very Ghibli and very adorable.
After seeing all that could be seen, my friend and I decided we were hungry and ventured out into the surrounding area for food. We found the cutest place! It was a renovated gas station turned cafe. It was tiny and served pizza and coffee, along with maybe a few other things. The people who ran it were so excited to have us, and tried to speak English to us. The cafe also had a real local feel, advertising local music and artists. They also had a local mini farmer’s market outside. It was my favorite kind of place to say the least. And my little personal sized pizza was killer good. It was all together a delightful day and another wonderful adventure in Japan.